Im keen on making bread in my machine but now wish to turn my hand to sour doughs using starters etc. Anyone familiar with this practice know recipes and tips to share please

Thu 18-Aug-115:01 pm

maggenpie

Cornwall, UK

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I did it with gluten free flours. Easy peasy really. Lots of info on the net. I kept it at room temperature while growing the sponge for the first time. After that I kept it in the fridge and only brought it up to room temperature the night before using it.

Anyone know how long sour dough starter keeps, someone gave me some a few weeks ago and I forgot about it, just found it at the back of the fridge.

Fri 7-Oct-1110:28 am

Hattie

Bucks/Oxon Border

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You are supposed to feed it with more flour & liquid every few days, even if you are not going to bake bread, so it may have died. What does it smell like? If it doesn't smell off I would add a few tablespoonfuls of flour & water or milk to it & see if it starts working.

Good luck

"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."

from Les Miserables

Fri 7-Oct-1110:30 am

Terrier

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doesn't smell attrocious Nadine, smells a bit like fermented apples, is that bad?

How much do I need to add, it's about 1/4 pint of the stuff, it's been in a sealed jar

Fri 7-Oct-1110:53 am

Hattie

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I'm not sure Janet but I would thing about 5 tablespoonsfuls of flour plus liquid to bring the mixture to the same state it is now......basically you are just trying to find out whether it is still alive & working. It might take a while to get going again.

When I had my restaurant I baked bread every day so this never happened .....I just saved some from that days baking. Recently I was reading a blog where a woman only fed her starter once a week because it was at their weekend/holiday home in the mountains of France.

"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."

from Les Miserables

Fri 7-Oct-1110:58 am

Terrier

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Hmm, well I'm sure there's plenty of wild yeast/bacteria around our kitchen, soI could always try a new batch...will give it a go for now with what's there, and see. Iff outside now as the sun is shining..

Fri 7-Oct-118:59 pm

devongarden

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If it looks reasonable, and bubbles eventually when you give it something to eat, it is fine. They can lurk untended but alive in a fridge for ages though they do better if fed at least once a week. If you have a good starter it is useful to back it up by freezing some of it just in case the main one goes off....

Have been making my own bread now for about a year, both in my bread machine and by hand and also using the machine to the dough stage and then giving it it's final thump etc before going into the oven.

I always put salt in, I have tried cutting it back, although frankly I am not that convinced that the small amount of salt in a couple of slices is here or there since I don't put salt on my food generally, but find the bread loses taste; are there any options on this worth trying. I don't have a problem if not but I do like experimenting!!

These days I always use honey in the mix rather than sugar and I am keen to try using malt extract instead of honey, any ideas about the relative values between these in bread making?

Finally, for now, has anyone used their bread machine for jam making and if so how was it?

I have reached an age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me...

Thanks TA, guess what I will be sitting down reading this evening? Have had a quick scan through and looks really interesting don't know if she got into malt extract but will find out later. What a mine of information.

I have reached an age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me...

Tue 18-Oct-1112:49 pm

Toffeeapple

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My pleasure Chris. It is a very detailed blog, you will take ages going through it, but there is a comment facility and she will answer queries, so take it away! There is also this site that you might find useful together with this one on Andrew Whitley.

I'll try that again!

Tue 18-Oct-111:55 pm

Xahha

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I can link to Azelias feeling of talking about things so much that their eyes glaze over- I used to see that when I was working- I tended to enthuse about something , often changing subjects as something else occurred to me within the conversation. Looks a good source of info for bread and all sorts of things.

Are we having fun yet? I am!

Tue 18-Oct-119:23 pm

Terrier

York

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My first though Chris was about the need for sugar to feed the yeast, will malt extract do the same thing? By the way, finally got round to making the sourdough last weekend. Lovely stuff, shall definitely do that again